first time in 36 years. can you guess what she sang in 1977? the theme from "a store is born" that. does it for me here. check out the latest interviews. cnn.com/brooke. now, wolf blitzer. "the situation room" begins right now. hey, wolf. >> brooke, thanks very much. happening now, deadly weather. a thousand mile long of dangerous storms and tornadoes stretching from the gulf coast to new england. also, he listened to his wife's impassioned plea for gun control and then spent hours answering senators' questions. mark kelly joins us this hour live in "the situation room." plus, the mother of an american woman making her very first visit overseas and vanished in turkey. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room":

we begin with a deadly storm here in the eastern part of the united states. there is wind damage all across the southeast, some of it from tornadoes. one death is reported in tennessee, another in georgia. right now the worst weather is crossing georgia. cnn's miguel marquez is in adairsville where there is significant damage. tell us what is going on. >> reporter: huge damage. at least one person, we understand, was killed when a building collapsed but fortunately not where i'm standing, at least not that we know of. this entire area -- this looks like it was someone's -- part of somebody's lunch that was being made is here. across the road, this is the main road in adairsville, georgia. two roads are completely destroyed. you can see the cars that are flipped over and semitrucks are

flipped over as well. you can see this was a plant making heavy machinery this morning, 50 to 100 people in this thing. it is completely demolished. everyone, everyone made it out alive and fine. we talked to a couple of employees who said they hid in the bathroom and prayed and prayed but they finally were able to get out and amazingly enough, nobody was killed there. throughout this area, though, whether it's in marietta or lawrenceville, there are sirens going off here. it's a very frighten day for georgia, wolf. >> what are folks saying where you are? what are they bracing for? >> reporter: well, right now a lot of the electricity is out. the temperature has dropped 10 to 15 degrees here. so it's very cold.

you can see across the street the cleanup has already begun. a lot of the cars in the area, they are starting to tow them off to the side streets. a lot of electrical lines are down. most of the electricity has been cut off so crews can get in here and fix those. but at this point it's mainly a game of cleanup. there is still concern about the weather but it's mainly rain at this point and wind. wolf? >> miguel marquez on the scene for us. the line of storm stretches for more than 1,000 miles and behind it much colder air is moving in. you heard miguel saying it's getting colder. our meteorologist chad myers is in the cnn weather center not very far away. what's the latest forecast? >> it's raining in montreal and snowing across parts of michigan and wisconsin. the biggest threat of severe weather is still from atlanta and southeast ward. that's where the tornado potentially is right now and maybe even up into the piedmont of north carolina and virginia.

the big story is how all of this happened. atlanta, 70 degrees today, now down to 63, as miguel said. it is is cooling down. it's 10 degrees below zero in minot, north dakota. with windchill and heat index, it's even more sublime than that. topeka kansas has gone down 38 degrees where philadelphia was up. by this morning the cold air down in past the 24 hours and atlanta is getting cooler. st. louis is 34 degrees cooler than it was. part of the up and down of the jet stream is the energy between the cold and the warm. it is 80 and the feels like temperature in key west, it feels like 806789 the feels like wind temperature in minot is a negative 34. that's 114 degrees difference across the continental u.s., wolf. >> even here in the nation's

capital, washington, d.c., was in the 20s and got in the 50s and 60s. it's going up and down. what's happening here? >> if you are still in the warm air, if you walk outside anywhere in the east anywhere from new york city to down, it's warmer than it should be. then you're still in the danger zone for severe weather tonight. that warm air is going to be gone tomorrow. the cold air will push through the northeast and southeast and into florida and you'll be 10, 15, 20 degrees colder than you are right now and on average it's going to be a cold couple of days. it's going to warm back up and get cold again. this is an up and down swing that we haven't seen for a very long time. >> chad myers, thank you. let's move to capitol hill right now on today's long and dramatic clash of opinions over gun control in the united states. take a look at this remarkable picture. it's the national rifle

association's wayne lapierre shaking hands with mark kelly at the end of today's hearing on what, if anything, can be done to cut down on the epidemic of gun violence in the united states. mark kelly is here in "the situation room." he'll be joining us liver in a few minutes. first, though, let's go to our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. she has highlights of today's dramatic it hearing. go ahead, dana, share with our viewers what happened. >> reporter: well, the highlight, undoubtedly, was the woman who wasn't even on the witness list, gabrielle giffords. if you take a look at the screen, you can see a handwritten note written by her speech therapist, i am told, the 16 sentences she uttered before this committee and had everybody in the room, no matter what their position on guns, mesmerized. a dramatic entrance from a woman who was a congressional colleague until a gunman shot a bullet through her head while she was doing her job. even more dramatic, gabby giffords labored yet passion nal

plea for passion. >> speaking is difficult but i need to say something important. violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. too many children. we must do something. be bold, be courageous, americans are counting on you. >> reporter: giffords is an advocate and so is her husband mark kelly. >> a strong supporter of the second amendment as anyone on this panel. my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks.

>> reporter: at the other end of the table, the other star witness with a very different perspective. >> law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals: none of it makes any sense in the real world. >> mr. lapierre, that's the point. the criminals won't go to purchase the guns because there will be a background check. we'll start them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. and i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you -- >> order. >> reporter: the line to get into this first hearing on guns since newtown was huge. snaking down the hallway and down the stairs, citizens on both sides of the issue. >> i truly care about this issue and want to support commonsense gun laws. >> guns are not the primary cause of the issue. it's the people that operator use the guns. >> reporter: inside, republican

lindsey graham wanted to bring in a real gun but real tape and laws prevented it so he used pictures. >> does everybody on the panel agree that a convicted felon should not have either one of those guns? >> reporter: a staunch defender of gun rights, he talked about limiting high-capacity gun magazines by telling the story of a woman trying to fend off an intruder. >> her husband said, shoot, shoot. she emptied the gun, six-shot revolver. the guy was hit five of the six times. he was able still to get up and drive away. >> reporter: kelly pushed for limiting magazines by reminding people that jared loughner shout 32 rounds from one magazine and was unable to reload. >> meaning he did not have access to a high-capacity magazine and the same thing happened. christina taylor green would be alive today. i certainly am willing to give up my right to own a

high-capacity magazine to bring that young woman back. >> reporter: so the question is, now what? one of the leading democrats on gun control, chuck schumer said he is in talks with high nra ratings and is in talks with somebody who is perhaps the best rating from the nra, tom coburn, a republican from oklahoma. schumer has delayed releasing his legislation on background checks in hopes to make tom coburn part of this legislation. >> but not necessarily on magazines or assault-type weapons? >> reporter: correct. just on background checks. still sources high up in the democratic party here in the senate say that they simply do not think that those high-capacity magazines or, more importantly, an assault-weapons ban, that that has any chance. they think the background checks

has the most realistic of any passing. >> dana, thanks very much. a short time after the hearing ended, gabrielle giffords and her husband, retired astronaut, mark kelly, visited president obama over at the white house. you see a picture that has just now been released. mark kelly is in "the situation room." come on in, mark. we're going to talk about what happened today and where you stand on all of this right after this commercial break.

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or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say, you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. today's senate hearing on guns started with a very, very dramatic emotional speech by gabrielle giffords who survived a gunshot to her head by a would-be assassin just two years ago. >> thank you for inviting me here today. this is an important

conversation for our children, for our communities, for democrats and republicans. speaking is difficult but i need to say something important. violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. too many children. we must do something it will be hard. but the time is now. you must act. be bold, be courageous. americans are counting on you.

thank you. >> that was very, very impressive. giffords' husband, the retired astronaut, mark kell cannily, was right at her side as she testified and for hours afterwards. mark kelly is here in "the situation room." he just came over from the white house. first of all, let's talk about your wife. how did she prepare for that? that's really the first time we've heard her speak like that over these past two years. >> yes. gabby suffers a condition called efasia and that kind of thing is difficult for her. she practiced. she hasn't been practicing for weeks. we only made the decision to come up here a few days ago. she took some time getting ready and actually crafted the speech herself. she was involved in the writing on it and worked on it. >> we saw the handwritten notes that her speech therapist had prepared, had wrote those out there. they are right there on the screen.

she was basically reading from the handwritten notes. >> yes. she looked up and even ad libed a little bit. i think the most important thing is that hopefully the senators and the people hearing this and hearing her take something away from this message. >> she spoke from the heart. >> yes. >> what does she want -- what do you want, in a nutshell, the united states congress right now to do? >> certainly we want the united states congress to work together to try to solve this problem. we've seen, especially over the last couple of years, just so much division that it's really hard to get things done. but certainly everybody agrees that we have a problem. we, first of all, need to have a universal background check. we need to close the gun show loophole. we need to do something about mental illness in this country and for us, specifically what happened in tucson, high-capacity magazines. i don't think anybody has the need for a 33-round magazine like jared loughner had or a 100-round magazine that was used

in colorado. and then assault weapons, we need to seriously look at the lethality at these weapons and why they are so prevalent in our society. >> maybe the prevailing wisdom is to do something on background checks but when it comes to the magazines and assault-type weapons, it's a major up hill struggle. >> it does get harder. i can see just watching this hearing, many of the republican senators seemed somewhat inclined to do something on the background checks but when you start talking about banning hardware, you know, people like wayne lapierre who testified alongside me, they are adamant about their position on that issue. but i really think they need to think about this. these guns were made to kill a lot of people all at once. designed, basically, for use by the military. i've served in the military for 25 years. you know, i understand how lethal they are and i honestly

don't think you need that type of weapon to protect yourself. >> but there are still so many gun owners out there who oppose any kind of restrictions, if you will, on these kinds of weapons. so look in the camera. talk to them and tell them why this is the time for action. >> well, i mean, i could just say, you know, we've had many, many mass murders in this country. we've had a lot of them. especially -- especially's recently. what we saw in newtown and colorado and tucson, i mean, this is unacceptable. i mean, i think people understand that when somebody does a mass shooting and they use semi automatic weapon and assault rifle, twice as many people are hurt and injured. it's not -- it's something that needs to be addressed. but more than that, as a universal background check and closing the gun show loophole, we really need to make sure that criminals, the mentally ill, terrorists do not have access to firearms. you know, in fact, 72% of nra members believe to be universal background check before buying a

gun. 72%. or 74%. you would think that the head of the nra, who testified today, would agree with that position. but he doesn't. >> because here's what a lot of people don't understand. you've got americans responsible for solutions. you and gabby launched this. this is going to be your cause, right? >> yes. >> why should someone on a no fly list or a criminal, if you will, be able to go to a gun show or from a private sale be able to go buy a gun without any back ground checks? >> they shouldn't be. >> has anyone given you a good explanation for that? >> did wayne lapierre give you an explanation for that? >> basically, more bureaucracy. but i know from what happened in tucson -- >> but it would save lives. >> it absolutely would save lives. >> jared loughner, the shooter in tucson, had somewhat of a criminal background.

he was an admitted drug user and was intent on mass murder assassination. he went through a background check. now, if there was the correct information in the background check system, he he would have been denied access to the gun, like 1.7 million americans have been since 1999, who should not have been able to buy a gun. now, obviously in his case he probably would have went to a gun show. that's why we need to close the gun show loophole. the argument that criminals will often get the guns in some other manner, that's probably true in some cases. but i think in the case of what happened in tucson, certainly in that case, if he would have been denied access to the gun, i don't think that would have happened that day. >> even much more difficult to get it, that could potentially save some lives. >> it gives you time. it may be in that period of time you might have gotten some treatment. >> americans for responsible solutions, is that going to be, if you have your way, the counter to the nra? >> well, i mean, our goal is not

to be the counter to the nra. gabby and i are both supporters of the second amendment. we're both gun owners. part of what i want to do is protect the rights of americans to own a gun. i think you should be allowed to own a gun to protect yourself, to protect your family torque protect your property, but that only extends so far. i think part of being a responsible gun owner is to have a responsible background check. i recently bought a hunting rifle at walmart a few months ago and i went through a background check. it didn't take that long to do that. >> and you did it. one final thing, we saw you shaking hands with wayne lapierre. did you exchange any words? did you say anything to each other? >> i said, nice to meet you and enjoyed testifying with you today. >> we'll see how this situation moves on. mark kelly, please pass along our best wishes to gabby. wish her only, only the best. we've all been impressed with her remarkable progress over

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we're back with the astronaut mark kelly. we had completed the interview

but during the commercial break he told me something fascinating that i wanted all of our viewers to hear about as well. mark, you're a retired astronaut but your brother scott is still an astronaut. >> yes. >> you were over at the white house, you came here to "the situation room" from a meeting with the president, gabby giffords, your wife. and you spoke about your brother a little bit. tell us about what that conversation was about. >> we talked about the president about the hearing and talked about my brother getting ready to go into space for a year. >> a year? >> a year. a while ago we decided we needed to send an american into space instead of for six months, which is a typical increment on the international space station, we're going to double that and do a year-long flight and that person is going to be my brother scott. he's starting to train for that mission in the next couple of weeks and he's going to launch in 2015. >> so he'll be on the international space station -- >> for a whole year. >> with russians and others? >> yes. one tourist will come and go as

well. europeans. there are russians on board, americans. my brother will be the commander of the space station. >> he's going to be there for a year. how do you prepare for that? you can't come home every few weeks for a weekend. you're there for a whole year on this international space station? >> yeah, it is. this is one step into sending people to mars for the first time. because when we ultimately get to the point of doing that, that mission might be two years long. so this is a stepping stone to pushing out further in the solar system. >> and mentally, that's going to be a difficult, difficult -- six months is long enough. the longest you were in space was -- >> 17 days. >> how difficult was that in. >> not difficult at all. i really love it. the space shuttle missions are incredibly busy. different mind set for a crew member who is there for a long period of time. it's more of a marathon than a sprint. my brother is going to be on a year-long marathon. >> he's up there for a year. wish him the best and best of luck. when does he leave? >> 2015 in the spring.

>> he's going to be preparing for the next two years. >> a long time. >> to spend a year in space? >> absolutely. >> and did the president share any other thoughts with you that you want to share with our viewers? >> no. it was a great conversation we had about what happened today. he really enjoyed seeing gabby again and it was nice to see the president. >> yeah, i'm sure -- >> he talked about the issue. >> he's not only rooting for gabby but for the issue as well. >> absolutely. >> do you think he's going to do the best he can? >> i think he's committed. i think all of us are after what happened in newtown, 20 first graders murdered in their classrooms? how can we not do something? >> i was there for four days right after newtown happened. it was a powerful moment and all of us personally experienced the aftermath. i think we'll never be the same as a result of that. >> that's true. >> mark kelly, thanks very much. give our best to gabby. >> i will. thanks. cnn gloria borger spoke exclusively with vice president

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we are expecting a major fight on capitol hill tomorrow when confirmation hearings get under way for secretary nominee chuck hagel. the vice president, joe biden, thinks very, very differently. he spoke exclusively with gloria borger who is here in "the situation room." obviously they have been friends, biden and hagel for a long time. >> going back to their days in the senate. i asked him about the hagel nomination and he was sort of key in paving the way on capitol hill for this. i asked him about the charge among republicans that it's too dovish and listen to what he said.

>> the real president obama has exercised force responsibly as boldly and as bravely as any president in american history. this is the guy who has not backed away. and he's also ended wars that almost any military man out there will tell you we should not be engaged in again. the idea of getting engaged in a ground war in a country that's in transition is not a prescription any military man would suggest and to suggest that two war heroes, a bronze star, a purple heart, silver star, taking over both the state department and defense is -- whatever the phrase was, is ridiculous. >> so what are you hearing in what are the chances that he won't be confirmed? i think he will in the end. >> the white house is pretty optimistic that he's going to get confirmed. he's going to face a pounding

tomorrow in the armed services committee. you have senator mccain there, used to be a friend of his, if you'll recall, but after 2007 when chuck hagel all but endorsed barack obama, the friendship kind of dissolved. there's only one republican so far, wolf, that's come out for hagel and that's who he says is one of his best friends. while it looks like the democrats will be able to keep their own party in line, they are going to need five republicans if there's a prospect of a filibuster, they don't quite have it yet. they still think it's going to get through. >> we'll see what happens in that hearing. >> that's right. tomorrow morning. >> gloria, thanks very much. let's get to our strategy session and dig deeper with paul begala along with ari fleischer, a consultant, board member for the republican jewish coalition. they are both cnn contributors.

i think both of you agree with me that, in the end, ari, i'll start with you, will be confirmed. >> it seems that way. the senators lean that way when you count the numbers. chuck hagel owes the american people an explanation. if he cannot give an explanation for the positions he's taken in the past, positions which no other senator shared, he's going to have a very hard day. i think you need to let him have his chance tomorrow and we'll see. >> do you have any doubt about it, paul? >> i have very little doubt and i actually agree with ari ich. he might have to reconsider his position. he's been asked some very, very tough questions. he did cast votes. ari is exactly right. opposing sanctions on iran, which both senators and both parties disagree with, sanctionsed iran has helped to damage their economy, has not stopped the nuclear program. ari is right, he will be asked tough questions about it but

when strongly pro-israel senators like so many others have heard the answers that hagel has given them in private, they have come out for chuck hagel. he will have to cross that bar like he has in private. >> dianne feinstein is going to be joining us in the next hour. let me move on and talk about hillary clinton. we'll see what the republicans decide to do and if they decide to filibuster, that would take 60 votes. let's talk about hillary clinton. let me start with you. she was asked about this new super pac. she's not affiliated with it. already calling on her to run for the democratic nomination in 2016. >> there's pac just ready and

registered for hillary clinton. >> is there really? >> are you going to tell everyone to stand down? >> you know, right now i am trying to finish my term as secretary of state and the president and i had a good laugh the other night. because i am out of politics right now and i don't know everything i'll be doing. i'll be working on behalf of women and girls and i'll be hopefully writing and speaking. those are the things that i'm planning to do right now. >> paul, this super pac ready for hillary, that's what it's called, are they jumping the gun? >> sure. of course they are. and frankly so am i by even talking about this with you, wolf. of course, i love hillary and worked with her husband for so many years. you certainly did not hear her do her impression on senator sherman. i think it's quite obvious, no one knows the lay of the land. she's not going to commit to running when in her heart i don't think she's decided to. she's got the time and the

support. there's no need to run into 2016 for hillary or me or the rest of the pundit. >> how formidable would she be? >> she would be formidable. remember, everyone thought she was for mid-basketball and would win in 2008 and lost to a junior senator in illinois. i think for hillary and cha she's done in her career, bus she really want to go through iowa, new hampshire, live the primary life? it's a brutal, hard, long, long hours life. i think if she got the primary handed to her on a silver platter, which will never happen, she would run. but i think it's going to be a bar that at the end of the day, why would she want to cross that bar? >> because she wants to be the first woman president of the united states. i suspect that she will. she's still got a lot of energy. if her health is okay, i think she will run because she sees history potentially being on her

side and i've known her for 20 years, as someone who gives up easily. but that's just my guess. we'll wait and see, guys. >> write it down. >> thanks very much. the nra is described as washington's most popular lobby. is that hype? do they have the influence that people think it does? ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. ♪

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many people think the nra has lots of political influence. joe johns takes a closer look.

>> reporter: the nra took center stage on capitol hill and didn't give much ground. >> law-eabiding gun owners will not take action for gun owners nor should they dictate what we lawfully use to protect other families. >> reporter: this makes gun control advocates like dianne feinstein say that it will be an up hill battle. >> the nra is venal. they come after you. they put together large amounts of money to defeat you. >> reporter: but chris murphy of connecticut doesn't buy it and he's on a mission to convince his colleagues. >> we need to wake people up that there's not really a political price to pay at the hands of the nra like there may have been a decade or two ago. >> reporter: in a new report, murphy calls the nra a paper

tiger. during the 2012 campaign, the nra targeted senate candidates with a low nra rating, like tim kaine and spent more than $4 million on senate campaigns last year, losing seven out of eight races where they spent over 100,000. the only winner, republican jeff flake of arizona who sits on the judiciary committee, the group who will craft any legislation on guns. but money isn't the only way to measure influence. >> i think that the nra as a single issue group is extremely potent political force out there. and even though their success rate was 50% with their outside spending in the last election, they have these members, millions of members that they can mobilize who are passionately motivated on this issue. >> reporter: 4 1/2 million

members, according to the nra, who they can call on to lobby congress or vote in elections. >> the nra doesn't have the power but those who believe in the second amendment do. >> reporter: david keene points to the wisconsin recall as a prime example. that election kept pro gun rights republican governor scott walker in office. >> in that race, we made a six-point difference. gun owners in this country have as much influence as they always have and perhaps more because guns are more acceptable than they were ten years ago. >> reporter: in case you were wondering, besides jeff flake, seven other members on the senate judiciary committee have gotten money since 1988 and the committee chairman, patrick leahy. wolf? >> interesting stuff. we're following the money together with you. i know you're working on this story and we'll get more in the days to come. >> absolutely. >> thanks very much for that, joe. an american woman on the trip of her life until she

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egypt's top general is warning that it may collapse because of violence and fighting. this is the largest arab country, the most important arab country. reza, what is going on? >> reporter: there is calm where we are in port said right now, nowhere near the violence that we saw over the weekend. there was demonstrations within the past hour but this time those demonstrations did not break the government-imposed curfew put in place a couple of days ago. that's because there was a change here within the past few hours. the governor here decided to reduce the curfew and instead of it going into effect at 9:00

p.m., it's going into effect at 6:00 p.m. and the skits frchizo strategy from the president, last night the muslim brotherhood, through their website, announced that the president has changed his mind somewhat. he's asked the governors in these three provinces to make the decision whether they want to keep the curfew in the emergency rule or cancel it and, as we mentioned it, one governor here, the port said governor, has decided to reduce it. wolf? >> what do we expect in the days to come? what do we expect from president morsi? >> reporter: well, look, when there's turmoil in a country like this, things are unpredictable. i don't think anyone knows where this country is going but all

eyes are on president morsi to see how he resolves this conflict. probably the most glaring problem is these two sides are not talking. you have the secularists, the moderates who have made their own list of demands and then the president and his supporters, they insist that they are moving this country forward effectively to just going through growing pains. they are asking for patience and trust. but the opposition factions simply don't trust this president and we're waiting to see where this goes in the coming days, wolf. >> we'll stay with you. reza, thanks very much reporting from port said in egypt. the best way to follow the volatile situation in egypt is on cnn.com. the stories are constantly updated. go there for much more of what is going on in egypt. the stakes in north africa and middle east dramatic right now. an american vanishes in turkey but her family prays they will soon see her.

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the brother of a missing 33-year-old american woman says he doesn't want to come home from turkey without her but the search for sarai sierra has been frustrating. no one is giving up yet. what's the latest? >> well, wolf, sarai sierra is a native new yorker and her distraught parents are at a loss to explain what happened. from what they know, she was heading to istanbul on january 20th and hasn't been heard from since. more than a week after 33-year-old sarai sierra disappeared in turkey, her parents cling to hope. her brother and husband are in istanbul working with authorities to find the mother of two. >> i just want to grab her and hold her. >> the image for most in their minds right now is this

surveillance video. it was released by turkish police showing her in a mall on january 20th. a day earlier her parents say they spoke to her on skype. >> she was giving me the flight information when she was coming in on the 22nd, what the flight was and what time she was coming in. she told me, don't forget. >> they say she shortened her trip by a few days. he went to pick up his daughter but never showed. >> and then not to hear from her, it's not like her. >> sierra traveled by herself to turkey on january 7th, they say, because a friend who was supposed to go with her canceled. she had rented a private room she found on the internet. her passport and bags were later found inside, they say, after she was reported missing. perhaps the strongest clues about what may have happened to her may be found online and social media. she documented her trip on instagram.

sunset, istanbul style, is one of the many entries of her visit. it was her first trip abroad, one her parent say was prompted by a photography hobby. as her parents wait for news, they are taking care of sierra's two boys, working to shield them from what has happened. >> having the kids get up, have to get up and be strong, you know. but just so broken inside. >> and on sierra's instagram account, more than 3,000 followers, with messages like these, you are in my thoughts and prayers. i hope you come home safe. and sierra's husband is in istanbul and told cnn that his wife had gained many admirers of her photography on that instagram account. she had gotten pretty well acquainted with friends in istanbul and chose to take this trip with the help of people she

had met. wolf? >> we hope they find her and find her quickly. thanks, mary, for that report. and you're in "the situation room." tornadoes hammering the southeast tearing down buildings and flipping cars and trucks on an interstate. at least two people are dead. full coverage coming up. as congress begins a dramatic debate on gun control, a teenage girl who performed an event tied to the presidential inauguration is shot and killed. back home in chicago. and it was smooth sailing for john kerry but chuck hagel might have a much harder time making it into the cabinet. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

we begin this hour with a massive front stretching from the gulf coast to the great lakes and is throwing off deadly storms. some areas are being hit very, very hard right now. a tornado is slammed into a northwest georgia town, knocking down buildings, overturning dozens of cars along an interstate. thermometers have been going haywire has this huge front moves eastward. our own brian todd has been tracking the destructive storm. >> likely a tornado, flattened these buildings and destroyed houses like this one. this was a trailer park near nashville hit by the same storm system overnight. >> it was just -- and then it was the worst sound i've ever heard in my life. that trailer, you know, that's nothing compared to the life of this child here. that is nothing compared to that. >> throughout the south, through

to the upper midwest, violence storms damaged homes and trees were down in alabama and a church had its steeple blown off. by midday, the devastation moved east. wsb caught this twister on camera, overturning cars and damaging homes and building. tornadoes usually don't occur until springtime in the u.s. what's causing this? one storm front that's affecting much of the country. we got access to noaa's state-of-the-art weather facility outside of washington and spoke with jim hoak. >> looking at this front and what it's doing, how is it causing tornadoes in january? >> well, there is a huge temperature contrast between the cold temperatures in the central part of the united states and warm temperatures in the southeastern part of the united states. cold temperatures here, warm temperatures here. the front is in this area. it's the clash between the warm and cold temperatures that enables such things as tornadoes, hail, and strong

winds to occur. >> along with a stark divide in temperatures from one side of the front to the other. here on the eastern side of the front, it's freakishly warm, uncomfortable without a jacket here in washington, d.c. hovering in the mid-60s. what's it like on the other side of the front? let's go to our affiliate kwwl in eastern iowa. >> reporter: brian, we're looking at completely covered roads here. five to six inches of snow just in our part of the state. city officials specifically in waterloo are asking people to stay off the roads unless it's an emergency. >> jim hoke says this is almost as challenging as superstorm sandy but sandy took longer to develop. >> we saw it seven days ago but it didn't become an intense system until the last day or so. >> and this system is bringing wet weather as well. flood warnings are being given

from michigan to louisiana. and thunderstorms are supposed to pass through washington, d.c., at any time, wolf, and bring the temperatures down extremely in this area back to january-type levels. for now we can take another reading on this laser thermometer. here's what it says. low 60s. at least we can enjoy a little bit of warm weather. severe everywhere else. >> certainly is. in the south, brian, not all of the damage was caused by the tornadoes, right? >> no. some of the experts say it was caused by straight line systems, just kind of straight bands, very strong winds that have knocked down a lot of those buildings and homes there. still strong cells of tornadoes still whipping through that area. it's very dangerous even in the south. >> brian todd on the washington mall. thank you, brian. let's go to miguel marquez. he's at the scene of the devastating storm damage in adairsville, georgia. 75 miles from atlanta?

>> reporter: it is. it's north of atlanta. this county has been declared a disaster area, an emergency area as well as the adjacent county as well. i want to show you, about 100 people were in this plant this morning. it was an operating plant here in adairsville. they were putting together parts for tractor-trailers. amazingly enough, everybody survived there. the devastation in this one area here is incredible. the cars here on the road, you can see, they were tossed around and crushed. there are also a lot of tractor-trailers that have been overturned in this area and what's happening right now, georgia power has come in here because if you look at my feet, there are power lines down throughout this entire area and the power has been cut to many of the homes here. they are in this area getting the power up and it's going to be a very, very cold night, it seems, because the temperatures

have come down 15, 20 degrees at this point. so it's a pretty miserable night here in georgia. wolf? >> we'll check back with you to see where we go from here. miguel marquez on the scene there in adairsville, georgia. let's turn to chad myers. what's going on here, chad? >> some of the storms are coming right towards you in d.c., roanoke, all of the mid-atlantic states. what is going on, wolf, is a big dip in the jet stream. it's cutting out of the southwest and up through the northeast. just like going through chicago. it's 57 in atlanta. 77 in miami. but 10 below in minot and that's the clash of the temperatures, the package that brian todd just put together was so eloquently talking about. when you get cold and warm that comes together like this,

something has to break. when that happens, something has to happen. i must have gotten 100 people ask me, isn't this weird we get tornadoes in january? and the answer is no, not really. last year we had 75 tornadoes in january. but the tornadoes in january are in the south. and then by february and march they get up farther to the north. they follow the jet stream to the north. by spring, march, april, may, when you expect them, they are all the way through the midwest, kansas, nebraska, that is tornado alley right through there. and then by june, july, some of these tornadoes are up here and by august i've seen tornadoes in edmonton, alberta. follow the money, they say. if you follow the jet stream, you can certainly follow the tornadoes as well. this is an interesting map showing from tuesday into today, temperatures in topeka have gone down 37 degrees. miguel said the temperatures went down 20 where he was. this morning, up 18 compared to

24 hours ago and now temperatures are falling rapidly again. it's the jet bringing down the cold air compared to last week, bringing up the cold air, bringing up the warm air as well. remember, this was -- we're talking about 4 below windchill factors in new york city a couple of days ago and now we're almost 65 degrees up there. >> similar situation here in washington, d.c., as well. is there any way to tell whether this kind of roll bettroller cor ride of extreme is going to continue all winter long? >> it's going to continue the next 15 days. it's one wave after the other. the wave goes up, it's called a ridge and you warm up. the wave comes down and it's called a trough like a trough where you put cattle feed and then back the other side of the ridge. it moves across the country. it depends on what side of the jet you are on. the warnl side or the cold side and it changes every five days. yes, it's going to continue all winter long. >> we'll be riding the roller coaster together with a lot of

folks. thanks very much, chad, for that report. to get all of the latest storm tracking or send us your later weather ireports, send them to cnn.com/weather. so the battle lines are now drawn over the president's pick to head to the pentagon. why chuck hagel is facing bitter opposition and he's fighting back. and blackberry, a new operating system and a new name. but is it enough to survive? if there was a pill

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♪make just one someone happy ♪and you will be happy too. john kerry had no trouble sailing through the senate confirmation process but president obama's pick for defense secretary is facing a much tougher road. the former senator chuck hagel is battling opposition on several fronts, including new attacks against iran sanctions. barbara starr takes a closer look at the nomination. >> thank you, mr. president.

>> even as president obama nominated chuck hagel to run the pentagon, an unprecedented effort that sounds a lot like a presidential campaign. >> president obama for secretary of defense, chuck hagel is not a responsible option. >> the conservative advocacy group american future fund putting up big money. >> hagel accepted gold-plated gifts. >> we're running over $500,000 for ads. >> this tough vietnam combat veteran is part of the attack machine, making the case to more than 50 senators. >> can we just ask you how it's going? >> it's going well. appreciate it. >> reporter: due to security concerns, i can't show you the exact room but here until this

nondescript hallway, chuck hagel has an office where he's been getting ready for what may be contentious confirmation hearings and it is from here that the strategy for confirmation has taken shape. >> we joke that this is the hagel war room and we are doing rapid response as issues come in and that's what you'd expect in this confirmation process. >> reporter: it's all high stakes. valerie jarrett moved in quickly when gay rights groups opposed hagel over his 1990 comments calling an ambassador nominee openly gay. >> as a progress of our nation and specifically as a community of lgbt individuals within 24 hours senator hagel had issued an apology. >> reporter: on hagel's support for israel, critics continue to say hagel is soft. so the hagel war room got an endorsement from chuck schumer,

a prominent voice. but the mega donor and his wife who gave tens and millions of dollars to a super pac supporting mitt romney says not so fast. as a member of the republican jewish coalition, he's calling gop senators to issue a no vote. the potential campaign cash not easily forgotten. one senator who hasn't announced how he will vote is senator john mccain, republican of arizona, a long-time friend of chuck hagel's. the two men fell out over there's disagreements about the iraq war. but if mccain votes for hagel, and that is not certain, if he does, the opponents of chuck hagel may have a much tougher case to make. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> one of chuck hagel's leading supporters is also a former senator, a fellow vietnam

veteran. senator, thanks for joining us. you're going to be in the front row right behind chuck hagel. you strongly support him. i know he's been a close friend of yours. listen to republican senator john cornyn why he opposes this nomination. >> the nomination of chuck hagel to be the next secretary of defense has already done damage to the united states' credibility in its attempt to deny iran a nuclear weapon. thus emboldeneding one of the most dangerous regimes in the middle east. to limit that damage, president obama should choose someone else to lead the pentagon. >> senator cleland, do you want to respond to john cornyn? >> i just think this is smoke in mirrors. it obscures the fact that after ten years of war and people who have been deployed overseas to iraq and afghanistan five and six and seven different times, ten years of war really we need

a man like chuck hagel who's been to war who knows war, who's been wounded, gotten a few holes in his t-shirt, still carries the shrapnel from that generations ago with him, he is exactly the kind of guy we need in the pentagon now. i want somebody in there who knows about war, to help keep us out of war. >> senator mccain knows about war. he was a p.o.w. in vietnam. when i spoke with him yesterday, he hasn't made up his mind yet. speak to senator mccain. tell him why he should confirm chuck hagel. >> he is your brother, john. me, john kerry, you, we all suffered the same fate pretty much in the same war. and i don't see john turning his back on his brother. >> you think he'll vote to confirm him? >> i do. either that or be absent.

i don't see john really being absent. i think mccain is holding his powder -- keeping his powder dry pending the hearings. i think a lot of the members of the senate are keeping the power dry pending the hearings and then they will vote to confirm chuck hagel and should. >> some of these votes, for example, on iran's sanctions, he voted against those kinds of -- you were a senator for a long time. you know how tough it is to vote on these kinds of sensitive issues. he was in the minority. >> well, here's the deal. you can attack anybody on anything if you've been in the senate long enough. my view is this man has been to war and he's the best to look after those who have been to war and secondly we don't choose secretary of defense by 30 and 60-character assassination ads. that's not the way we do it. when the president nominates and advises and consents to that nomination. that process will go forward tomorrow and after the hearings

tomorrow which i am pleased to attend then i think the senators will confirm chuck hagel. >> he's been asked a lot of them -- chuck shchumer and came out and endorsed -- >> that's highly appropriate. that's when you do it. you do it in the public hearing room. up until now, chuck has been sequestered and not been able to talk in his own defense. >> have you spoke to him? >> i have not, not since three or four weeks ago. i've been out there for him because he's my brother and friend and certainly now with young americans that need to come home from afghanistan and be taken care of by a secretary of defense who has been to war, who helps us stay out of war. that's chuck hagel. >> speaking of young americans who have been to war and have come home, like you, a 26-year-old iraq war veteran, brendan moroco, he has undergone

unbelievable surgery and transplants. he came home from iraq without any limbs. watch this. >> i don't even realize it anymore. i've been using the arms to -- or the hands to text and use my computer and do my hair. it's just that they have truly become part of my every day life. it's given me hope for the future. i feel like i've been given a second chance. >> it's a rare double arm transplant. you see that as someone who's gone through a lot and we all know what you've gone through. what goes through your mind? >> thank god for that young man and people willing to defend this country and chuck hagel was one of those. that young man gives me aspiration and so does chuck. >> it's amazing the optimism that he has right now. he's gone through what he's gone through and -- >> thank god for it.

>> you were skeptical about the whole war in iraq, weren't you? >> oh, yes. and chuck was and john kerry was. we voted for the resolution because there was a sense that iraq had weapons of mass destruck. we thought that. we were told that. it was not true. it was fraudulent. you need somebody like chuck hagel in there who you cannot fool. giving the best advice of president of the united states on how to use the military to stay out of war. but if we get in there and win quick, that's what we need. >> give us one final thought to those returning veterans, amputees, the wounded warriors coming back. what advice do you have for them as someone who knows what they are going through? >> we love you, we appreciate you. not only do we thank you for your service but we're going to take care of you as best as we possibly can. welcome home. >> senator cleland, thanks.

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lisa sylvester is in "the situation room." what is going on? >> the dow and s&p all closed down. the economic growth had caused. but stocks still remain near all-time high.

the dow is less than 2 percentage points and back in october 2007. one of the owners of the brazilian club where 235 people died has attempted suicide. that attempt took place and authorities say that owner was, in their words, emotionally destroyed. the fire department shares some of the blame for the casualty count saying they weren't wearing proper masks and lacked proper equipment. take a look at this amazing video. strong winds in texas blowing tumbleweeds. the driver of this truck literally had to plow through them to pass. this video was posted on facebook. that being looks like something straight out of a movie. it doesn't look real. it looks like something they cued up on a set. >> looks very real. yeah. pretty amazing. thank you.

you know, with the dow jones approaching 14,000, that was october 2007 it reached 14 thourk and then by by 2009, the first year of the obama administration it collapsed to below 7,000 it and it's doubled over the past four years. >> you know what people were saying back then in 2009? everyone was saying leave your money in. don't take your money out. the dow is going to come back and sure enough the markets have rallied. they have come back. believe it or not, we are at the record high. remember, the conversation cans back then, back in 2007, was down 15,000 and now you're hearing those same conversations. >> just be careful. as congress begins a dramatic event is shot and killed back home in chicago. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work.

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fireworks on capitol hill or gun violence and it started with a powerful appearance from gabrielle giffords who was severely injured in a shooting. this brought together dianne feinstein who has just proposed sweeping legislation, banning military assault weapons and the executive vice president of the national rifle association, wayne la pea air. watch this political exchange. >> i want to thank everybody for being here, particularly our witnesses, even you mr. lapierre. it's good to see you again. we tangled 18 years ago. you look pretty good, actually. >> both indeed have been making their respective cases in the gun debate for many, many years. you can see by this vintage cnn video, this from a long time ago. senator feinstein is joining us

from capitol hill. senator, thanks very much for coming in. >> you're welcome, wolf. >> in all seriousness, you've been through this debate for 18 years. what's different now? >> well, what is different now is that the weapons have increased in firepower, in velocity, in kill power. the technology has changed so that there are mechanisms that you can put into a semiautomatic rifle, like a bushmaster or ak-47 that makes it essentially act like an automatic weapon and in a minute you can fire, you know, 400, 500 bullets. it's a real problem out there. and these weapons tear people's bodies apart and that's what happened to the children. and every one of these, school after school, mall after mall, when is it going to end? we look like such a barbaric

country. we can't even protect our own people. so my view is that weapons that are in wars don't belong on the streets. we have a bill that exempts over 200 weapons, outlaws 185. sets up a characteristic test for an assault weapons, requires a background test when that assault weapon is transferred or sold. i hope we can get it through. >> right. >> it's very hard. >> i want to get to the politics in a moment and a likely vote in the senate and the house. but you were on cnn's state of the union with candy crowley on cnn and you said this -- >> the nra is venal. they come after you. they put together large amounts of money to defeat you. they did this in '93 and they

intend to continue it. >> i want to elaborate by what you mean by venal. >> well, what i mean by venal is just that. they raise money if you vote against them to defeat you. and particularly with members of the house. they have been successful. jack brooks, tom foley at the time the speaker, both were defeated. now, the nra has been raising a lot of money from gun companies now. gun companies are supporting this. the nra is encouraging programs that give these weapons to youngsters as young as 8 and 9 years old. i've got to wonder what's happening to this country. so every single poll shows that a dominant majority of americans want to ban military-style assault weapons. every single poll shows that. the question is, will america

stand up and will america take this case to the midwest, to the south where it is very difficult to obtain a vote? >> listen to wayne lapierre, at the hearing this morning. >> unfortunately, we've seen a dramatic collapse in federal gun prosecutions in recent years. overall, in 2011, federal firearms prosecutions per capita were down 35% from their peak in the previous administration. that means violent felons, violent gang members and drug dealers with guns and the mentally ill possess firearms are not being prosecuted. >> does he have a point there? >> well, he may. i don't really know about that. but we will look at it. i do know this. that a violent felon can buy a gun at a gun show, no questions

asked, even if it is a 50 caliber sniper rifle, an ak-47, a sophisticated bushmaster. he can buy it. i do know that you can buy any amount of ammunition on the internet. i do know that clips, high-capacity magazines are cheap and easily available. so anybody can put together any kind of an arsenal they want. criminal, terrorists, he's right about that. now, the question comes, what kind of gun laws will the national rifle association support? in the time i was at the hearing, this question was more or less asked of mr. lapierre and he did not answer it. essentially, they believe that you don't need to do anything, just enforce laws. the brady gun checks, for example, database, a product of the tea art legislation, the next day you have to dissolve

it. so the nra has been very artful in moving forward to really -- >> senator -- >> -- to put opposition to enforcement at the same time that they are complaining about it. >> it's not just the nra. you have problem with prominent senate democrats as well. patrick leahy has a different perspective than you do and maybe even the senate majority leader harry reid. do you have these senators, the democratic senators on board? >> well, i can tell that you patrick leahy voted for the bill in 1994. i can't comment on senator reid. look, everybody says, do you have every vote? the answer is no. that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. look, what happened in connecticut at sandy hook, the ripping apart of bodies of 5 and 6-year-olds a. mother who gave her son a gun when that son

shouldn't have been anywhere near the gun, shows the falsity of the situation that we live in now. we've got to change that and we've got to protect our schools. you can't just protect them with guards. i have no problem with guards. there was a deputy sheriff armed at columbine. he couldn't hit the sniper or the shooter that was in that school. so we have to keep these weapons, which are military weapons, out of the hands of gang bangers, of mental incompetence, people who would use them for bad purposes. >> senator feinstein, i know that you feel very passionately on this issue. >> i do. >> we'll see what happens in the weeks to come. appreciate you joining us. >> thanks, wolf. our own anderson cooper is taking a look at the debate in a special town hall guns under fire. that's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern only on cnn. she performed at an event at

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a developing situation in arizona where police are searching for a suspect in a multiple shooting in an office. let's go to casey wian in phoenix. what happened? >> reporter: early this morning in phoenix, at this office building, a man walked into a building and shot three people. according to police, this was a location he was targeting. it was not random. there was a heavy, immediate police response. dozens and dozens of police officers in this area and at

multiple locations throughout phoenix. they were also searching for the suspect in several vehicles that they were looking for. so far that suspect still remains at large. here's what one member of the police department had to say to us a while ago. >> what we know at this point is a man described as a white male, possibly older, went into an office, got into some type of an altercation and he shot three individuals. one of those people was transported in extremely critical condition. the other people were transported with nonlife threatening injuries. >> reporter: now, we do know the identity of one of those shooting victims. he is mark humels, an attorney. he was involved in a client mediation at the time of the shooting. the law firm would not say anything else. we do not know if that mediation had anything to do with the possible motive. we also should mention, wolf,

that the first time many people heard about this shooting was earlier today when mark kelly, of course, gabrielle giffords' husband mentioned the shooting. wolf. >> casey, thank you. from arizona to chicago now where the stories of deadly gun violence seem to be endless. one of the latest victims? a teenage girl who was just here in washington celebrating president obama's inauguration. cnn's ted rowlands is joining us with details. what a sad, sad story this is, ted. >> reporter: absolutely, wolf. it is another unbelievable heartbreaking story of a child's life cut short because of the gun violence here in chicago. she was one of those kids that always seemed to have a smile on her face, which you can see in this youtube video. that's how friends are describing 15-year-old, the latest innocent victim of gun violence in the city of chicago. she had just returned from the

inauguration in washington where she performed with her high school team. jayda is next to her in this team photo. >> it was a good trip. she was real happy. she smiled all the time. she was never mad or sad. >> reporter: she had just finished a final exam and was with a group of friends avoiding the rain. witnesses say a gunman came out from behind this fence and started shooting. the park, where she was killed, is one mile from president obama's home in chicago. >> the president and first lady's thoughts and prayers are with the family. as the president said, we will never be able to eradicate every evil action but we've got to try. >> reporter: dick durbin brought up the murder during a gun

hearing on capitol hill, talking about her trip to washington. >> it was the highlight of her 15-year-old life. she raced to a shelter. a gunman came in and shot her dead. just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, she's gone. >>. >> reporter: it's been a deadly start to 2013. she is the 42nd murder victim this year. 506 people were killed here in 2012. >> she is what is best in our city. a child going to school who takes a final exam, who had just been to an inaugural -- we have a responsibility to see a stop to this and all of us are responsible. >> reporter: high school students spent the day with their parents and brief counselors, talking about about her and her wonderful smile.

>> it's too much. every other day you're hearing student and killings and now what is happening is more parents are burying their children. >> reporter: and, wolf, sadly like is the case in many of these shootings, police have not made an arrest. they are hoping a witness will come forward so they can solve her murder. >> i hope they do. what a heartbreaking story indeed. ted, thanks for that report. when we come back, a very different story. a new blackberry has just been unveiled. up next, why it could be a make or break moment for a future of a very once powerful company. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th,

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could be a make-or-break moment for the once very powerful blackberry giant, research in motion, or rimm, which is today not only unveiling the long-awaited blackberry 10, it's also make blackberry its official company name. here's cnn's chief business correspondent, ali velshi. >> there's no buttons on the blackberry zen 10. >> reporter: no buttons may not be news for you, but it's big news for blackberry. canada's research in motion is counting on this totally virtual phone to allow it to live to fight another day.

after a year-long delay and years of neglects the onslaught by apple and android-based phones, rimm finally unveiled its new black berry 10 operating system and the phone to run it. i've been evaluating the phone in real world conditions. i'm a heavy user and a champion thumb typist. being new to the virtual keyboard world, my e-mail output has been cut in half while i got used to it. but the company says the keyboard is easier to use and more intuitive than its virtual competitors. >> select it just by flicking it -- >> the piece deries tans from the keyboard is it grabs words from your device and names from your contact and predicts in a very customized way what you're likely to type, allowing you to compose entire sentences just by flicking the complete words, which appear on the keyboard, up toward the screen. all of it can be done with one hand. >> let me try something. >> reporter: for those users for

whom a virtual keyboard is still a nonstarter, you'll have to wait until april for a model with a hard keyboard. built on a brand-new operating system, not a single line of code is copied from black berry's existing platform. battery life isn't great, but unlike iphone and many android phones, you can still change a dead blackberry battery. here's an interesting feature for those of you who use a corporate backberry with strict company rules but also carry a separate phone for your personal use. the blackberry 10 uses something called balance, which basically allows the device to be strictly split, so the corporate side of it can adhere to the company's rules, say, no photos or personal e-mails, while on the other side of the split personality, you can do all of your personal business. >> these are secure. the information in them is secure. so i can't take anything out of the work space, into my personal side. similarly, when i'm on the personal side, as an end user, i can remain confident that none of the tweets i'm send welcome the pictures that i'm sharing are things that my employer can have access to. so it's really and truly a dual

persona device. >> reporter: the two sides of the device, if you will, never cross each other. keep in mind, though, your company has to authorize and enable this feature. research in motion's ultra-secure, ultra-efficient back office systems allowed them to dominate the corporate world. increasingly, though, companies are letting people choose which devices they use. back in 2009, 20% of all smartphone s globally were blackberries. today, it's just 6%. the stock is down more than 80% in five years. the question is whether this phone can change all of this. it will be reduced in uk this week, in canada in february, and in the united states by the end of march. ali velshi, new york. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords' powerful plea to congress to help end gun violence in this country. her husband, mark kelly, was at her side. my interview with him, just ahead.

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wow-a grt deal just got a whole lot better. hurry. $14.95 won't last. from secretary of state to comedian, henry kissinger wowed the crowd at an exclusive off the record washington dinner the other night. no recordings were allowed, but politico got a copy of his funny speech and cnn's tom foreman is here with a closer look. very funny, indeed. >> yeah, wolf. this happened at the alfalfa club. this is a 100-year-old club here in d.c. that's made up of all sorts of movers is and shakers in politics and business. and every year, even when you don't have a presidential race, they select a presidential candidate. and this year, it is the former secretary of state, henry kissinger, the nobel laureate, born in 1923. he's almost 90 years old. here's the thing, though. it's a very secret thing, we can't get in video of his speech that just brought the house down, so we did the next best

thing. we reached out to paul sorvino, this afternoon, because he played kissinger in the film "nixon" and had him read all of kissinger's best lines for us. here's kissinger on the nomination. >> i accept the nomination for the president of the alfalfa party at this celebration of its hundredth anniversary. its program, i am proud to say, has not changed in the hundred years of its existence, much like the republican platform. >> not bad. he sounds a lot like kissinger. here's the next one. here's what kissinger had to say on advice. >> in my six decades of public service, i have given advice to ten presidents. some of them even asked for it. >> moving on, this is kissinger on the issues. >> i pride myself on being able

to see both sides of every issue. so let me candidly assess both my assets, and my other assets. >> by this time, the place was absolutely coming apart. here's kissinger on foreign affairs. >> people ask me what it was like meeting brezhnev or zhou enlai. there is, indeed, a lot of pressure when historical figures encounter each other. so, yes, they were a little nervous. >> and here's our last one. this is kissinger on negotiating. >> i have seen negotiations go on until talks broke down. when joe biden is your opposite number, talks go on until you break down. >> so, our thanks to the great actor, paul sorvino who joined us to do this, playing the part of henry kissinger. it was a huge, huge success. and wolf, i will point this out, even though henry kissinger is

almost 90, he can still work a crowd, and this nomination may have some legs. former nominees from the alfalfa clubs, richard nixon and ronald reagan. >> he is a very, very funny guy. henry kissinger, almost 90 years old. he's got a great, great sense of humor. and tom foreman, thanks to you, you've got a great sense of humor as well, and paul sorvino, helping us appreciate a little levity here in "the situation room." and happening now, gabrielle giffords struggles to speak at an emotional gun hearing. her husband, mark kelly, tells me how she prepared for her testimony. tornadoes spawned by wild temperature changes. new fears of a north korean nuclear test within days. and we talk to parents clinging to hope for their daughter, missing in turkey. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." it's the hot-button issue in america right now, as evidenced

by that huge crowd that turned out for today's senate hearing on gun control. it's just under seven weeks since the newtown, connecticut, school shooting and offered a platform to some of the powerful voices on the issue. cnn's chief congressional correspondent, dana bash, was at the hearing. she's joining us now. tell us how it all went down, dana. >> reporter: well, without question, the highlight came from somebody who wasn't even on the witness list, gabby giffords, who read a short 16-sentence speech and had everybody in the room, even those who disagreed with her on guns, mesmerized. >> how are you, congresswoman? >> reporter: a dramatic entrance from a woman who was a congressional colleague, until a gunman shot a bullet through her head while she was doing her job. even more dramatic, gabby giffords' labored, yet passionate plea for action, written out by her speech therapist, on this paper, in a way easiest for her to read. >> speaking is difficult, but i

need to say something important. violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. too many children. we must do something. be bold, be courageous. americans are counting on you. >> in congress, giffords was an advocate for gun rights and still owns a gun. so does her husband, captain mark kelly, a star witness. >> i am a strong supporter of the second maemt amendment as a on this panel. my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. >> reporter: at the other end of the table, the other star witness with a very different perspective. >> law-abiding gun owners will

noaccept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. >> reporter: wayne la pierre of the nra said strengthening background checks won't stop criminals. >> none of it makes any sense in the real world. >> mr. lapierre, that's the point. the criminals won't go to purchase the guns because there'll be a background check. we'll stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you -- >> let there be order! >> reporter: the line to get into this hearing on guns was huge, citizens on both sides of the issue. >> but i truly care about this issue and want to support common sense gun laws. >> guns are not the primary cause of the issue. it's the people that operate or use the guns. >> reporter: inside, republican lindsey graham wanted to bring in real guns, but red tape and laws prevented it, so he used pictures. >> does everybody on the panel

agree that a convicted felon should not have either one of those guns? >> reporter: a staunch defender of gun rights, he argued against limiting high capacity magazines. >> put yourself in the shoes of the mother. >> reporter: by telling the story of a woman trying to fend off an intruder. >> as her husband said, shoot, shoot, she emptied the gun, six-shot revolver, the guy was hit five of the six times, he was able, still, to get up and drive away. >> reporter: kelly pushed for limiting magazines, by reminding people that tucson shooter jared loughner shot 33 rounds from one magazine and was unable to reload. >> meaning he did not have access to a high-capacity magazine, and the same thing happened, christina taylor green would be alive today. i certainly am willing to give up my right to own a high-capacity magazine to bring that young woman back. >> reporter: so the question is, what now? what can possibly get done

legislatively, if anything. well, wolf, one of the lead democrats on this issue, chuck schumer, revealed he's in talks with some senators who have high nra ratings. and we are told that the senator he is in most close contact with is tom coburn of oklahoma, a republican. one of the most -- the biggest advocates of gun rights in the united states senate. and in fact, i'm told by sources close to both senators that schumer is holding off on releasing his legislation, because he's making changes in the hopes of having a bipartisan bill with tom coburn, strictly on the issue of strength streng background checks. >> thanks very much for that report, dana. kate balduan joining us in "the situation room" as well. there's a lot of movement on this story. >> a lot of movement, a lot of conversations happening, at least, on this issue. and gabby giffords, and her husband, right after the hearing that dana bash was telling us about, she and her husband, mark kelly, they met with president obama at the white house, and the white house sent out this photo of them talking in the oval office.

they were talking about, as he told you, the issue of gun control. >> and right after that meeting at the white house, mark kelly came here to "the situation room" and joined me. first of all, let's talk about your wife. how did she prepare for that? because that's really the first time we heard her speak like that over these past two years. >> yes. she suffers -- gabby suffers from a condition called efacia because of the gunshot wound to the head, so he practiced. we only made the decision to come up here a few days ago, but she put in some time getting ready and actually crafting the speech herself. so she was involved in the writing of it, and you know, she worked on it. >> and we saw the hand-written notes, what her speech therapist had prepared, had wrote those o out there, they are right there on the screen, so she was basically reading from those hand-written notes. >> yeah, some of it, you can see sometimes she was looking up, and she even ad libbed a little bit at the time. but i think the most important

thing, hopefully the senators and people hearing this and hearing her take something away from that message. this is really serious and we need to do something. >> she spoke from the heart. >> yes. >> and what does she want? what do you want, in a nutshell, the united states congress right now to do? >> well, certainly, we want the united states congress to work together to try to solve this problem. we've seen, especially over the last couple of years, just so much division, that it's really hard to get things done. everybody agrees that we have a problem. we need to have a universal background check. we need to close the gun show loophole. we need to do something about mental illness in this country. and for us, specifically from what happened in tucson, high-capacity magazines. i don't think anybody has the need for a 33-round magazine like jared loughner had or a 100-round magazine that was used in colorado. and then the assault weapons. we really need to seriously look at the lethality of these weapons and, you know, why they're so prevalent in our

society. >> because the prevailing wisdom here in washington is, maybe you'll get something on background checks. but when it comes to the magazines and the assault-type weapons, that's a major uphill struggle. >> i agree. it does get harder. you could see, or i could see just watching this hearing, you know, many of the republican senators seem somewhat inclined to do something on the background checks. but, when you start talking about banning hardware, you know, people like wayne lapierre, who testified alongside me, you know, they're adamant about their position on that issue. but i really think they need to think about this. these guns were made to kill a lot of people, all at once. designed, basically, for use by the military. i've served in the military for 25 years. i understand how lethal they are. and i honestly don't think you need that kind of weapon to protect yourself. >> here's what a lot of people don't understand. maybe, because you've got a new group, americans for responsible solutions, you and gabby have launched this group. this is going to be your cause now, right? >> yes. >> so why should someone who's

on a no-fly list or someone who is a criminal, if you will, be able to go to a gun show, or from a private sale, go ahead and buy a gun without any background checks? >> well, they shouldn't be. >> has anyone given you a good explanation for that? >> well, i think with the -- >> did you hear wayne lapierre give a good explanation? >> he gave an explanation, i don't think it was a good explanation. his explanation was, basically more bureaucracy. it creates more bureaucracy. but i know -- >> but it might save lives. >> it would save lives. it absolutely would save lives. jared loughner, the shooter in tucson, he actually had somewhat of a criminal background. he was an admitted drug user. he also was intent on mass murder and assassination. he went through a background check. now, if there was the correct information in the background check system, he would have been denied access to the gun, like 1.7 million americans have been since 1999, who should not have been able to buy a gun. now, obviously, in his case, he

probably would have went to a gun show. that's why we need to close the gun show loophole. you know, the argument that criminals will often get the guns in some other manner, that's probably true in some cay cases. but i think in the case of what happened in tucson, certainly in that case, if he would have been denied access to the gun, i don't think that would have happened that day. >> even if you make it much more difficult to get it, that potentially could save some lives. >> it also gives you time. if you make it more difficult, and maybe in that period of time, he would have gotten some treatment. >> americans for responsible solutions, is that going to be, if you have your way, the counter to the nra? >> well, i mean, our goal is not to be the counter to the nra. i mean, gabby and i are both supporters of the second amendment, we're both gun owners. part of what i want to do is protect the right of americans to own a gun. i think you should be allowed to own a gun to protect yourself, to protect your family, to protect your property. but that only extends so far. i mean, i think part of being a responsible gun owner is to have

a responsible background check. i recently bought a hunting rifle at walmart a few months ago. and i went through a background check. it didn't take that long to do that. >> and you did it. one final question, at the end, we saw you shaking hands with wayne lapierre of the national rifle association. did you exchange any words, did you say anything to each other? >> yeah, i think i said, you know, nice to meet you and enjoyed testifying with you today. >> and let's see where this situation moves on. mark kelly, please pass along our best wishes to gabby, we wish her only, only the best. we've all been impressed with her remarkable progress over these past two years. >> thank you very much, wolf. >> you know, he's a very impressive guy. >> yeah, he's an astronaut. >> and he appreciates how difficult of a political challenge to get this legislation through. they might get something on background checks, unlikely on the magazines, unlikely on the assault weapons. he understands that, but he and gabby are in it for the long haul. >> and he says he wants congress, and he gabby want congress to work together to solve the problem.

i mean, therein lies the rub. there's no clear consensus among members of congress, how to actually go about doing that. and you wonder, the more and more we talk about it, and the more time that passes, after a tragedy, you wonder if there is that political will there to accomplish it. >> yeah. >> we'll see. >> this fight will intensify. >> it absolutely will, wolf, you're right. and anderson cooper is tackling the issue with a special town hall, "guns under fire." the big question, can there be a solution to america's gun problem? find out thursday night, 8:00 eastern, right here, only on cnn. seems like everyone's also talking about the weather right now. here in washington, d.c., it's the unusually warm temperatures. down south, the nasty storms, and one town, a tornado ripped apart a georgia town. we're on the scene. but one dark stormy evening... she needed a good meal and a good family. so we gave her purina cat chow complete. it's the best because it has something for all of our cats! and after a couple of weeks she was part of the family. we're so lucky that lucy picked us.

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it's one of the stories everyone's talking about right now. wild weather stretching from canada to the gulf of mexico. >> it's amazing how huge it is. one of the most vivid examples today, a tornado caught on camera by our atlanta affiliate, wsb.

>> reporter: we can see circulation in the clouds right here. it looks like a tornado, right near downtown cartersville, at this moment. >> the georgia department of transportation says that twister overturned about a hundred cars. more on that coming up in just a few seconds. next door in tennessee, the line of storms is blamed for killing a 47-year-old man when a tree fell on his home. and on either side of this front, people are dealing with a temperature roller-coaster ride. temperatures are hitting in the 70s here in washington, and they're dropping into the 20s in chicago. >> our severe weather expert, chad myers, is standing by to explain what's going on. but first, let's go to cnn's miguel marquez. he's in adairsville, georgia, where that tornado it. >> reporter: wolf, one person died here in adairsville and the government has now declared this county a disaster area, as well as an adjacent county. it is absolutely amazing, though, that only one person was killed here.

if you laook over to my right, this is the plant where they make tractor-trailers and parts. as many as 100 people were in this plant this morning. they took cover in the bathroom and all of them survived, amazingly, because it is flattened. if you come around this way, you can see that there are trucks and cars on the road here that are -- they were tossed around like toys. there were even -- there were even tractor-trailers that fell on over these trucks, and it's amazing that nobody was killed in those either. across the way, there were two buildings that were completely destroyed, and in the center of them, another building that is damaged. but up, and actually, and seems to be in good structural shape. right now, what's happening is georgia power is moving into this area. you can just see all of these lines in here. all of these power lines. they are all down throughout the area. electricity is out throughout the area, which is a big problem for people now tonight, because the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees. it's going to get much colder

tonight and the rain has not let up all day. wolf? kate? >> miguel, thank you so much. the cause of all of this, some really dramatic temperature swings. cnn meteorologist and severe weather expert, chad myers, has been following this all day for us, chad. so chad, what is going on this time? >> how about 34 below for a windchill in mynot and 76 right now in key west. you do the addition. that's 110 degrees separation between the feels-like to the north and the heat index to the south. and it's going to be one of those weeks. watch this map. it's all depending on what side of the jet stream that you live on. right now, d.c. is 68. you're on the warm side of the jet stream. next week, not so lucky. it's going to even get colder later tonight. here's wednesday. i'm going to put it into motion. if you're in nebraska, you're cold right now. in fact, it's snowing. it's snowing in chicago. it was 63 degrees in chicago yesterday and now it's snowing. it depends on how far south the jet stream goes, because that's how far south the cold air is allowed to go. push you all the way to next

friday. cold in the west, warm in the central plains, and cold in the northeast. that's just the way it goes. and when the warm and the cold clash, you get severe weather. in fact, a brand-new tornado watch from columbia, south carolina, all the way down even into florida. we'll pan a little bit farther to the north, because kate and wolf, you are going to get severe weather tonight. in fact, there's even a little bit of flooding out in leesburg, out towards the west just a little bit. all of this has to push away. if you, right now, if you feel warmer than you think it should be, you're going to get either rain or a thunderstorm tonight. get ready for that. kate, back to you. >> preparations underway and the wild and dangerous weather continues. chad, thanks so much. to get all the latest storm tracking or to send us your weather-related ireports, be sure to click on cnn.com/weather and be safe, please. >> good advice. a scary, developing story emerging out of alabama right now. a little boy, just 6 years old, held hostage for more than 24 hours. we have the latest on the

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a really dangerous development in the crisis in syria today. kate's here. she's got that. some of the day's other top stories. kate, what happened? >> there's a lot going on today, wolf, that's for sure. a u.n. official tells cnn that an israeli fighter jet attacked a syrian convoy, suspected of carrying russian-made medium-range missiles and equipment. a former high-ranking israeli intelligence official tells cnn, the lebanese group, hezbollah, likely wants to get its hands on syrian weapons in order to attack israel. domestically on wall street, the dow could not break the 14,000 barrier today while the dow, nasdaq, and the s&p 500 remain near all-time highs, all

three closed down after the federal reserve's latest report on the u.s. economy. the fed says the economy actually shrank in the fourth quarter of 2012, breaking the country's string of slow, but steady recovery from the recession. and a very scary story out of alabama still developing this evening. a man is holding a 6-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker. he took the boy after shooting and killing a school bus driver late yesterday. authorities continue negotiating with the hostage taker. let's get the latest from our george howell, who is in midland city, alabama, this evening. george, what's the latest? >> reporter: kate, you know, just a few minutes ago, we heard from authorities here, they held a press conference and number one, they said that they still believe that this young boy, this 6-year-old boy, is unharmed, he is okay. they also believe that, you know, they were able to get medication to this young boy. not sure how they were able to do that, but that's very important. it's a child who needs

medication, daily medication, suffers from asberger's syndrome and adhd, so that's very important. and third, they said that they were able to get him his coloring book and crayons. so everybody here is just keeping a very close eye on what happens here. again, kate, as you mentioned, the person, jimmy dikes, apparently, according to investigators, shot and killed the school bus driver and got on the bus, demanded two kids, but was able to grab one, make away with that young boy, and has been held up in an underground bunker here. this is going on day two and investigators are monitoring this hour by hour, a desperate situation. the young boy's family, according to one person i spoke, is hanging on by a thread, kate. >> oh, my gosh. what a scary situation. george, keep us updated, because i'm sure it's going to be developing throughout this evening. george, thank you so much. other news, renowned golfer vijay singh said he had no idea a spray he's been using contains a substance that's banned under the pga's anti-doping policy.

another anti-doping story. in a statement issued through the pga, singh says he's shocked and angry and cooperating with an investigation. singh used something called deer antler spray. it comes from developing deer antlers and reportedly contains a hormone that stimulates muscle growth. and finally, a medical update on malala youssif, the teenager who was shot in the head by a gunman because she advocated equal rights for women. she's in britain now, and doctors say they need to operate just two more times in the next few days. they'll put a titanium plate over an opening in her skull and then put in an inner ear implant. wolf, it is amazing to see that video, when you know what tragedy and what trauma she sustained and the fact she is recovering so well. >> she's a courageous young lady and i hope she does really well. congress takes up the gun control controversy. we'll get an inside perspective from the former house speaker and former presidential candidate, newt gingrich.

he's standing by live, right here in "the situation room."

happening now, the former presidential candidate, newt gingrich, is here to talk gun control, immigration, and more! an emotional interview with the parents of a new york woman missing in turkey. plus, drug smugglers trying some unusual new tactics. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." an important senate hearing today on gun control with testimony ranging from inspiring to emotional to very contentious. >> and it started with surprise remarks from former congresswoman, gabrielle giffords, herself a victim of gun violence that makes it difficult for her to speak. listen here. >> violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. too many children.

we must do something. it's will be hard, but the time is now. you must act. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today, if we had stronger background checks. >> we could dramatically cut crime in this country with guns and save lives, all over this country, if we would start enforcing the 9,000 federal laws we have on the books. i'm talking about gun dealers with guns, felons with guns, and gangs with guns. they're simply not being enforced. >> let's get more on gun control with the former house speaker and presidential candidate, newt gingrich. thanks very much for coming in. >> let's talk about universal background checks. criminals, they can go and buy a gun, legally. just go to a gun show, if you will, or from a friend or a

neighbor. people on the no-fly list. they can go out -- they can't fly, but they can go buy guns. shouldn't there be universal background checks, to make sure bad guys simply can't go buy a weapon? >> look, first of all, i think there are over 70,000 convicted felons who have been reported having trying to buy a gun, who were checked by the current background checks. this administration has prosecuted virtually none of them. now, if we already have a law, if the law is not even being enforced, there's something fundamentally wrong with this. second, when you go to -- and you've heard me talk about this before, that the number one place they hold hearings is chicago. 80% of the killings in chicago are gang related. tragedy, i think, today or yesterday, of a wonderful young woman, who had a great deal high school record, who was at the inaugural, who was killed by being near gang members, all right?

those gang members aren't going to go some place that has a background check. i mean, what we do in this country is, there's a whole group of people who say, gee, why don't we harass the innocent, because we don't have the guts to stand up to the criminals. >> i don't think anybody wants to harass the innocent. i don't think anyone -- everybody wants to enforce, i agree, we should be enforcing the current laws, but why should a criminal just be able to go to a gun show or a terrorist, if you will, and buy a gun? >> first of all -- >> if you were on the no-fly list, for example, you would not be cleared to buy a gun. you can't go get on an airplane. shouldn't we tighten the laws right now? forget about the assault weapons ban or magazines, just on background checks. why not tighten the laws to save lives. >> i think background checks that involve any kind of a commercial dealer should be required, and frankly, even at gun shows, commercial dealers run background checks. because they're commercial dealers. now you're telling me that my cousin, who's about to sell a

deer rifle to his nephew is going to run a background check? i mean, at what level of intrusiveness -- why do the innocent -- we refuse to go after the criminals, and this is a problem in every major american city, except new york. we refuse to go after the criminals, we refuse to take down the people who aren't legally allowed to have guns -- >> but what about this -- >> by the way, when they did it in richmond, they had a very tough check people -- if you have a gun and you're a felon, you're gone. that program radically reduced the murder rate in richmond. >> but even the former presidential candidate, paul ryan, he's come out to say that we should be looking at this so-called gun show loophole. do you not think that that should be looked at? >> you can look at the gun show loophole, and then when people who decide -- the people we're describing, who want to get a gun who are bad people, figure out, okay, i'm not going to go to the gun show, i'll be in the parking lot. >> so you think there's nothing -- >> i'll meet you at the denny's.

i think, iffirst of all, take o 70,000 felons who have already been identified. and the morning you see the obama administration interested in action rather than politics, you're going to have a different kind of tone. but we also should be looking at two things. what are the psychiatric problems and to what degree does the federal privacy law make it almost impossible to identify people who have psychological problems? i suspect we're going to find this tragic situation in alabama right this minute involves somebody with a deep psychological problem. and then, second, i think we have to look at, what is happening in big cities, where it is, in fact, largely pistols that are involved, and largely gangs that are involved? >> let me ask you about another big issue that we've been talking about a lot this week, the issue of immigration. there's been a big bipartisan push, you know, this week, including republicans, marco rubio, john mccain, talking about this comprehensive immigration reform. but, clearly, not all republicans are on board with this latest push. listen here to senator david

vitter. >> i love and respect marco. i think he's just amazingly naive on this issue. this is the same old formula that we've dealt with before, including when it passed in 1986. and that is promises of enforcement and immediate amnesty. and, of course, the promises of enforcement never materialize. the amnesty happens immediately. >> well, i think -- >> what do you think -- because i've heard you say that you think that republicans should really be listening to senator marco rubio. >> well, i campaigned last year on the need to have a practical, common sense, honest conversation about where we're at. >> is that what we're having now? >> well, we're starting. i mean, i think we've had some progress in the last few days. and i actually think the president was remarkably tempered in nevada, and less partisan than usual. so i'm modestly encouraged. i don't personally believe, and i've said it over and again, that a comprehensive bill can pass. i think that it's too hard. i think that you could pass

seven or eight bills that together form a comprehensive reform. my advice to the house republicans would be, start passing bills. you don't have to hang on -- >> jeb bush says that's impractical and he wrote that article last week in the "wall street journal." he says, go for the comprehensive, don't do it peace mie meal. >> look -- well, i have great respect for jeb bush, but i believe that in this city, what you end up with is 11:00 at night, in the white house, six people in secret, writing a bill they don't know anything about, dumping stuff in the bill at the last minute. it is the worst possible form of legislation. they ought to hold hearings -- first of all, let's hold hearings. let's get out in the open. >> they will be holding hearings, and they'll be introduced -- quickly, are you with marco rubio or david vitter? >> i think i'm in between. i think marco's moving us in the right direction. i haven't seen any bill language. i'm not inclined to endorse something i haven't read. and i don't want to see us get

pushed into a corner, where you have to once again say yes or no to some 1,700 pages, without ever having markups and hearings and amendments. >> you talked about immigration during the campaign, but how much do you think of this latest push is purely politics, purely republicans seeing that you can't win elections with the number of latino voters that supported mitt romney. >> i believe with jeb bush's leadership in florida, with marco rubio's leadership, with bobby jindal, with a whole range of people, susanna martinez, the governor of mexico, i do believe there is an attitude of being honest about the problem. rick perry tried to talk about it in a candid way. i think it was very unfortunate, and frankly, helped cost us the election. if mitt romney had gotten 36% of the latino vote, he would have won a majority of the popular vote. >> who do you blame for his lack of hispanic support? >> well, i have to blame mitt romney. i mean, as you know -- >> you had a big fight --

>> as you know, i said something i thought was self-evident, when i said, we're not going to deport grandmothers who have been here 25 years. and romney came and said, well, they'll self-deport. now, that is the most anti-human phrase you can imagine. you think a grandmother is going to self-deport, leave her grandchildren and children. now you try to talk to the son about jobs, and he says, what, you want to deport my mother and you want to talk to me about jobs? we didn't just lose latinos, we lost asian americans by a greater number -- >> you still remember those debates? >> i remember those debates. >> you enjoyed them very much. i can tell you. >> was there one moment in one of those debates you want to relive, looking back, historically, that you say, i wish i had a do-over. >> i would love to do the two florida debates again, because i was frankly off my game and i couldn't figure out how to deal with the wave of negative -- >> the one in jacksonville and

tampa? >> yeah, i was drowning in the negative advertising and i didn't have a grip on how to answer it. >> can i ask you real quick, on the future of the republican party, you talked about it kind of in the immigration -- when you're talking about immigration. most-2012 election, there's a lot of soul searching going on. do you think that the chris christies, the northeast republicans, do you think that is what will save the republican party? do you think that's what will -- >> it's a piece of it. i just did a paper on this, it's pretty lengthy. look, we have 30 governors, 315 electoral votes, we have 24 states with the republican governor and republican legislature, 51% of the country. we have control of the house. i mean, we're a fairly robust party by historical tradition. >> the way republicans are talking about it, it doesn't look like it. >> that's because washington is just nuts. but if you look at the states, i'm very encouraged by what i see going on in the states. and i agree with bobby jindal, who may not have realized it, but he was quoting an old article entitled "the stupid party," when he said the other

night, we need to quit being stupid. i know it's a bold position. i think it would be good to not be stupid. >> that's a bold, bold statement right here. >> mr. speaker, we'll have you back here on "the situation room". >> great to see you. we've got an imminent nuclear test, apparently, by north korea. why the u.s. believes it could happen at any time. we're getting brand-new information and we'll have a live update from the pentagon. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters

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we're following some troubling new signs in north korea right now. >> u.s. officials believe the rogue nation is posed to conduct a nuclear test really at any time. cnn pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, has been working this story today. barbara, what are you picking up this evening? >> well, right now the watch

word is uncertainty. and that is not a word the pentagon likes when it comes to north korea. south korea's latest rocket launch, upping the stakes in a region that is bracing for north korea's threatened nuclear weapons test. the obama administration believes it could come at any time >> the latest consensus view is that we're within a few days away. the north koreans have been preparing this test for some time now. >> if we're entering a provocative phase, and we hope we aren't, that's problematic. >> reporter: a u.n. defense official tells cnn, quote, we think they are preparing for a test. we are watching it all as closely as we can. it would be the third north korean nuclear test. commercial imagery shows a tunnel where the test could happen and a bunker to shield equipment and personnel during a test. u.s. government satellites are picking up vehicles and personnel at the nuclear test site, indicating preparations are underway.

and a further indication to the u.s. that north korea's ruler is not changing course. >> i think with a new, young leader, we all expected something different. we expected him to focus on improving the lives of the north korean people. >> north korea's state media this week accused the use of nuclear blackmail and said it had no choice but to be defended by their own efforts. on a practical basis, the u.s. can do nothing to stop the underground test. the only realistic option is more condemnation from the united nations once it happens. but it tooks weeks to get a resolution after last month's launch of a rocket by pyongyang. >> the u.n. security council resolution or security council adopted a resolution just a few days ago and expressed its determination to take significant action in the event of a further launch of some sort of a missile or a nuclear test. >> barbara's joining me once again. so barbara, will the u.s.

government, is there a way we'll be able to actually detect this impending test, this nuclear test, before it actually takes place, or is it just you wait, you watch, and you see? >> you have to wait, watch, and see, kate. in fact, defense secretary leon panetta said just a couple of days ago, he essentially warned that, no, the u.s. might not know in advance. the problem is, underground tests, all the final preparations will be underground in that tunnel and those u.s. spy satellites flying overhead won't be able to see it. it so may only be after the fact. kate? >> barbara starr at the pentagon for us. thank you so much, barbara. >> we'll see what kim jong-un is up to. >> really flexing his muscles. they are living through a wrenching ordeal right now. we're going to talk to the parents of a young new york mother missing in turkey. >> i'll be sleeping and wake up crying, thinking about her constantly.

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we have been following the story of a young american mother missing in turkey. now, her parents are talking about the ordeal. mary, what did they say? >> they are just absolutely distraught and they're at a loss for answers. sierra's mother in particular was very emotional at times, but wanted to speak out in hopes that someone with information will come forward. more than a week after the 33-year-old disappeared in turkey, her parents cling to hope as they wait in new york,

sierra's husband and brother are in istanbul to find the missing mother of two. >> i see myself just running, just running to her, just grabbing her and holding her. >> the image for most in their minds is the surveillance video. it was released by turkish police showing sierra in an istanbul shopping mall on january 20th. a day earlier, her parents say they spoke to her on skype. >> giving me the flight information when she was coming in on the 22nd, what the flight was and what time she was coming in. telling me don't forget. >> they say she had shortened her trip by a few days. dennis jimenez went to newark airport to pick up his daughter, but she never showed. >> because she kept in contact with us all the time, and then not to hear from her, it's not like her. >> sierra traveled by herself to turkey on january 7th, they say, because a friend who was supposed to go with her

canceled. they say she had rented a private room she found on the internet. her passport and bags were later found inside after she was reported missing. the strongest clues may be found online and social media. through photos, she documented her first trip abroad on instagram, visiting amsterdam and germany as well. her husband told cnn she had chosen to take this trip through help of the people she had met through instagram. as her parents wait for news, they're taking care of her two boys, shielding them from what's happening. >> having the kids, get up, i have to get up and be strong, you know? but just like broken inside. >> and on sierra's account, more than 3,000 followers with messages like these. you're in my thoughts and prayers. i hope you come home safe. family members are counting on

those prayers as u.s. and turkish authorities work together to find her. wo wolf? >> i hope they find her and they find her quickly. thank you, mary, for that report. >> it's amazing how long it's been. they keep searching and two young boys are still at home. so sad. coming up, erin burnett "outfront" on the gun control hearing today by fact checking the nra's claims. we'll see what her team found in just a few minutes.

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science and evidence based drug and alcohol treatment center. where your addiction stops and your new life begins. call now. duct tape has plenty of uses. >> but jeanne moos found one you should not try. >> duct tape diapers used to smuggle cocaine. two women were caught coming into jfk airport wearing them. two women flew in from the dominican republic, a canine alerted one suspect's midsection. the other suspect walked with an awkward gait. strip searches revealed each was carrying over three kilos of cocaine.

such a ridiculous technique. we haven't seen anyone hide drugs in diapers since three men and a baby conspired to elude a narcotics detective. one of the suspects said she was offered 9 to $10,000 to smuggle the coke into the u.s. crack-cocaine tweeted one jokester and while we're on the subject of cocaine in diapers, guess what they found on nine out of ten baby changing stations in public restrooms in the u.k. for a documentary, journalists at real radio used wipes to swab public bathrooms. 92 of the 100 plus units examined tested positive. it sure seems like a weird place to snort a line. the diapers got us thinking about how handy duct tape is for so many things. from prom outfits to rain hats,

it was even used to take down an out of control passenger on a plane. nasa space shuttles never left earth without it. >> i tell you, i think we'd be lost without duct tape up here. >> a bandit even used it when he robbed a liquor store. it's enough to give diapers a dirty name. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> you know that dogs are going to smell something. >> that's what i was just thinking, why, oh why, did these women, did anyone think they were going to be able to walk through an airport with cocaine on their tushies? >> put some tape on. >> i'm sure we can all feel bad, but i don't think 9, $10,000 is worth going to jail for a very long time. no more duct tape. >> you can always follow what's going on here in "the situation room."